Ancients
by SupahBrony300
Summary: 40,000 years ago, humans fought a losing war against a savage race of murderous aliens they called the "Orcs". After a doomsday weapon was fired, all life in the galaxy seemingly disappeared, including the humans. One Pony, one press of a button, and a series of events that will shake Equestria. Epic story, may rival Savior Rising. Rated M for language and possible adult themes.
1. How it all begins

**It's a new story. **

**BEGIN NOU**

_STUDIES OF AN ANCIENT RACE_

_Since the founding of Equestria, strange caverns could be found littering the mountains surrounding Canterlot and in the valley below, along with various sites in different areas. In early times it was told that these caverns held curses and monsters, thus they were left unexplored. It wasn't until a few years ago that one of these caverns was explored by some brave scientists. Upon entering, they found that they had stumbled into the biggest discovery in history. _

_An ancient race, which we call the Precursors, seemed to have inhabited these lands eons before us. From what our scientists could uncover, they were an extremely advanced race. They had interstellar travel capabilities, and their space vehicles ranged from small to large. The largest known vehicle is the Manehatten catacombs, a series of "tunnels' that stretch beneath the entire city. _

_From what we've gathered, the Precursors were bipedal, and appeared to be a warrior race due to most of the artifacts being armor. Although we have uncovered many vessels and artifacts, we are unable to activate any of the machinery because of the extremely advanced technology, but we believe these vessels are still capable of activation. _

"STOP!" screamed a horrified Fluttershy.

"What's wrong? I was just reading out loud." Twilight groaned as she put the book down.

"It is pretty creepy Twilight." Spike mumbled as he built a house of cards.

"How? It's only a record of an ancient race with futuristic technology." Twilight said as she put the book into a bag.

"That's just it. What if they come back? They were warriors, what if they attack?" Spike yelled, causing Fluttershy to whimper in fear.

"Stop it Spike, you're scaring Fluttershy. There's absolutely no way they could come back. The book said their ships are eons old, even older than the Princesses. If they were still out there we would have encountered them by now." Twilight explained.

"I hope so." Fluttershy whispered as she slowly regained her composure.

"Yeah, I just wish there were some artifacts near here. I really want to study all this advanced technology. I went out in the forest a couple times even, but I never found anything." Twilight said.

"Oh! I just remembered, I have to help some birds find nest building materials! See you later Twilight!" Fluttershy called as she quickly retreated to the door. She was still genuinely freaked out. Twilight had been all over that book for weeks, and Fluttershy finally asked what it was about. Shivers went down her spine as she remembered Twilight reading. The thought of tunnels and ancient beings possibly being located right under her feet scared her the most.

Either way, she promised earlier she would help build some nests. She casually trotted into the forest, walking along her usual path until she came across the birds. She started helping the birds look for materials, as she did every spring. The one thing she never got was why they avoided one part of the forest. She knew that there was a fairly large rock pit in that area, but she never ventured that way before.

"I bet there's something over there, being we haven't looked yet." She said aloud. Slowly, she inched her way through the thick brush. Eventually, she came across a large open area. The grass was very tall, and there were huge piles of boulders and evidence of rock slides. She cautiously inspected the sides of the small canyon she stumbled into as she pressed further on, making sure she wasn't walking into a new rockslide.

After countless minutes of looking around the strange new place, she saw something. A small rabbit was sitting at the edge of the tall grass.

"Oh hello Mr. Bunny, what are you doing way out here?" Fluttershy cooed as she walked up to the rabbit. The rabbit simply looked at her and then ran away.

"Oh no, don't be scared, I just wanted to say hi." Fluttershy explained as she slowly gave chase, trying to not look like a threat. She followed the rabbit to a large rocky cliff that was covered in vines. The rabbit retreated into the vines, and Fluttershy followed without hesitation.

She entered a dark cave. The light from outside was almost completely blocked from the vines, but Fluttershy could still somewhat see the general shape of the cave.

"Come out Mr. Bunny, this is definitely no place for us to be." She said as she slowly advanced into the cave. She stopped suddenly when she heard a strange metallic noise. She looked down, and realized that the cave had turned into a hallway made of a strange metal. She started to feel fear rise inside her.

She was inside one of those creepy ancient vessels.

She hesitated for a moment, but then caught a faint glimpse of a shadow. She recognized it as the rabbit, so she decided to get it out with her. She didn't want a woodland creature to be stuck in a scary cave.

"Mr. Bunny, where'd you go?" She called quietly as she walked slowly down the hall. Every so often she had to step over some wreckage, or go around a heap of twisted metal. Eventually, she entered a room that emitted a light red glow. Curious as to what the glow was, she decided to look. She walked across the room, which was still really dark, and made her way to something that looked like a small metal pedestal. The top was glowing red, and there was a small button on the side that said "AI activation".

"I wonder if this is the light switch." Fluttershy mumbled. She cautiously pressed the button. At first, nothing happened. Suddenly, a panel on the other side of the small pedestal lit up bright blue. Fluttershy carefully looked at the panel. Strangely, she could read what was on it.

_**/:LAST TRANSMISSION – LOG 385633:/**_

_**1011011001011011**_

_**[DECRYPTION REQUEST ACCEPTED]**_

_**:-BEGIN DECRYPTION-:**_

_**[QoB]- Overlord three this is class C destroyer 'Queen of Battle', requesting immediate reinforcements.**_

_**[HQ]- Queen of Battle, Overlord Three is unable to send reinforcements at this time. All other sectors are under attack.**_

_**[QoB]- Sector 9 is getting hit hard. We need backup.**_

_**[HQ]- Negative Queen of Battle, all sectors are near overrun. We are initiating operation 'Alamo' as of now.**_

_**[QoB]- Confirm, did you say 'Alamo'?**_

_**[HQ]- Roger.**_

_**[QoB]- God help us. **_

_**[HQ]- Set your team and crew in the cryo tubes and wait for the initial wave to pass. Anyone still awake will be destroyed.**_

_**[QoB]- Roger, see you in ten minutes.**_

_**/:TRANSMISSION INTERFERENCE - TWENTY MINUTE GAP OF UNKOWN SILIENCE:/**_

_**[QoB]- Overlord three come in.**_

_**[QoB]- Overlord three respond.**_

_**.**_

_**[HQ]- Qu3en of Batt1e, emergency pr0toc0l 101101 act1vate, c0mms systems are fai1ing.**_

_**[QoB]- Queen of Battle is hit, damages severe. Setting down on planet 01337-P.**_

_**[HQ]- Negat1ve, all rema1ning vessels are to h0ld that area at all c0sts. **_

_**[QoB]- WILCO Overlord, systems are down and most crew are down. Landing, will assist in any ground conflicts, Queen of Battle out.**_

_**/:TRANSMISSION END:/**_

Fluttershy had no idea what she just read, but she knew it wasn't good. She was about to leave when she saw another light. It was another button, but it read. 'TB 3 open'. She had no idea what it did, but she pressed it anyway. As soon as she pressed it, a loud hissing started. Fluttershy whipped around to see exactly what it was.

She saw another dull red light turn on inside a tube looking thing, and the tube opened. At first, she didn't realize what happened. Then, a large figure appeared when the steam faded from inside the tube. Fluttershy practically jumped out of her skin when the large bulky figure fell forward out of the tube and landed on the floor with a loud bang.

Needless to say, Fluttershy got the fuck outta there. She sprinted as fast as she could out of the cave and flew as fast as she could back to Ponyville.

-TWILIGHT'S LIBRARY-

Twilight was once again into that same book about the 'Precursors'. She couldn't get over how interesting it was. Suddenly, she heard her door open and slam shut.

"Hello? Who's there?" She called from her room. No answer. Twilight rolled her eyes and walked down the stairs to see who it was. She soon came across a shaking Fluttershy, who was curled up in the corner.

"Fluttershy, what's wrong?" Twilight asked in concern as she ran over to the shaking heap in the corner.

"Twilight… forest… cave…. monster….." Fluttershy squeaked.

"What the hay are you talking about?" Twilight asked in frustration.

"Those ancient things, one is in the forest, it's too scary to talk about!" Fluttershy cried as she remembered the large creature she found.

"Can you show me?" Twilight asked with a hint of excitement in her tone.

"I d-don't know if I can go back." Fluttershy whimpered.

"I'll get the others to come with, that way we have each other for support, alright?" Twilight promised.

"O-ok." Fluttershy reluctantly agreed.

**TWO HOURS LATER**

"So, you're telling me there are aliens in that cave?" Rainbow Dash asked as they stood outside the cave.

"Y-yes, and they speak our language too! I read something in there." Fluttershy managed to say. She really didn't want to go back in.

"Interesting. Alright, let's go see what's inside." Twilight said as she walked into the cave. They walked the same path Fluttershy took, avoiding the same piles of burnt and twisted wreckage. Fluttershy looked in awe at the hallway. It stretched on for a long way, and it was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Eventually they came across the room Fluttershy went in. Twilight went over to the pedestal and read the transmission.

"Whatever this is, it's not good. It looks to me like they were in the middle of a war when this was made. This vessel seems to have made a crash landing here." Twilight explained as she further inspected the room.

"Hey Fluttershy, didn't you say there was one of those old Precursor things in here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, it was r-right over… there?" Fluttershy stuttered as she pointed to the open cryo tube. Fluttershy could feel the fear rising inside her again as she looked at the floor where the creature used to be.

"Ah don't see anything." Applejack said as she walked right over the spot.

"I think they had names, look, this says SFC. Young." Pinkie Pie pointed out.

"Interesting, but I don't see it here, Fluttershy." Twilight said.

"It left! The thing is still alive!" Fluttershy screamed as she ran out, with the others following close behind.

**AN HOUR EARLIER**

Blackness. Utter silence. Then, a small blue blinking light, and then a blue flash as the HUD lit up. The creature clumsily got to its feet and looked around the dark room. It spotted the pedestal and stumbled over to it. It fumbled with some controls before a small object popped out of a compartment. It placed the object in the back of its helmet.

"Sgt. Aaron Young, it's nice to be back in your company." Said a calm voice.

"Good to be back, Calvin. How long has it been?" Asked Aaron.

"About 40,000 years. Remarkable, I think." Calvin said.

"40,000 fucking years are you serious." Aaron said in an annoyed tone.

"After the ship landed, all systems went down, locking everyone in their tubes. I'm surprised I'm even still functioning correctly. Must be the lockdown system that we got prior to our deployment." Calvin explained.

"Or a technical error, being we were shot to shit." Aaron mumbled.

"Possible, I was offline during re-entry, and my system failed to reactivate me upon landing." Calvin replied.

"Are the other tubes capable of opening?" Aaron asked.

"Negative, power supplies were drained of all power from your tube opening. We'll need to find another power core to open the others." Calvin said.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders and exited the room. He turned his HUD's night vision on so he could see. The silence in the ship was deafening. Every single step he took echoed loudly, as his armored feet clanked loudly against the metal floor.

'_It couldn't have been 40,000 years, could it?' _Aaron thought. He had his doubts, but then again he could never keep a sense of time when in the cryo tubes….

**FLASHBACK TO 40,000 YEARS AGO**

**BRIDGE OF THE QUEEN OF BATTLE**

"Captain, Sgt. Young and his team are back." An officer said to the older Captain.

"Good, send them to the arms deck, they'll need to resupply quickly." The Captain said grimly.

It was a dark time in the galaxy. Several years ago, a savage race of aliens swept through several colonies. They went from planet to planet, murdering countless people for no known reason. The humans had them evenly matched with weapons, but they were severely outclassed when it came to numbers. After the last colony in the seventh sector was overrun, mass crowds of extremists arose on Earth and other planets, fighting their own military because they believed the alien extermination crusade was their 'rapture'.

**ARMS DECK – QUEEN OF BATTLE**

"Whooo! We ran through them bitches!" Specialist Justin Will shouted as he grounded his large chaingun. Justin was an outgoing kind of guy, and he was BIG. He towered over most of the other troops, and was strong enough to carry the largest of weapons thanks to his strength augmentations.

"That pylon never stood a chance." Specialist Corey Gunderson boasted as he restocked his supply of explosives. Corey, or 'Fuse' as he is known, is the team's sapper. He usually keeps quite when in serious scenarios, but under his tough shell he turns into a fun loving party animal.

The team had just returned to the Queen of Battle from a secret mission to destroy an assembly area on their nest planet, which was a larger version of Earth, and was supposed to be a secret. They were discovered only a week ago, and the enemy keeps trying to sneak onto the planet.

"Keep it together team, we have another objective." SFC. (Sergeant First Class) Aaron Young said as he entered the room and set his assault rifle down. SFC Aaron was the team leader. He is mainly serious, but sometimes shows a lighter side when the pressure is off. He is one of the youngest men in the military to achieve Sergeant First Class, being only 23. He had his parents to thank for that, forcing him into the super-soldier program at the young age of 13.

"It's only going to be a quick strafing run, I don't see why we have to gear up so much." Specialist Chase Boldt whined. Chase is the team's vehicle expert. He is trained to pilot everything from trucks to tanks, and from helicopters to fighter jets, and even space class fighters.

"Hey Chase, would you prefer I leave the enemy's anti-air defenses un-hacked?" PFC (Private First Class) Tim Callsworth joked. Tim was the team's hacker. He was undoubtedly the smartest person around when it came to technology. He was well known for hacking an entire enemy's ships systems, causing it to crash and burn.

"There's not even a high value target. I need one more HVT kill before I get my award." PFC Ted Allen grumbled. Ted was the sniper. He was good at two things- stealth and killing.

Together, they were Crusader Team 1, the most skilled and deadly team in the galaxy.

As they conversed about the mission they were about to go on, the ship shook violently. Aaron ran over to an intercom system on the wall.

"Bridge, what the hell just happened?" He shouted.

"…. South side is hit… fire teams deploying. We are currently contacting Overlord three for reinforcements." The bridge responded.

"Alright everyone, get your shit together and get ready to defend against boarding parties. If they know what cargo we have, they'll definitely be boarding us." Aaron said as he grabbed his assault rifle. The team followed suit and rushed to the main defense point, which was the core room, where the AI of the ship is located.

"Calvin, I'm going to upload you into the ship's main AI, I want you to lock everything down just in case they access from a different area. We can't let them have any info." Aaron ordered as he entered the room and put his AI chip into the control pedestal.

"Roger that Aaron. All systems and information files will be on lockdown until further notice." Calvin replied. Just as Calvin locked all important files down, the Captain came over the loud speaker.

"Attention all crew, attention all crew! Overlord three has confirmed the initiation of operation 'Alamo'. You have five minutes to prepare yourselves."

"Fucking a, Alamo? I thought that was a last-ditch effort thing!" Corey said.

"It is. That means the enemy is overwhelming our defenses all over this sector, including Earth." Tim explained.

"Well, you heard the Captain, get your asses in the tubes before they set off the weapons!" Aaron ordered.

They all entered the tubes and started their sleep cycles of ten minutes. They all awoke at the same time, but to a completely different scene. The ship was being hit repeatedly by long range weapons that weren't hacked, meaning the Alamo weapons didn't take out computerized weapons.

"Shit, they may all be dead, but their AI's are still kicking." Tim yelled as the ship rocked from a direct hit.

"Attention crew, attention crew! We are descending to the surface. The Alamo weapons failed to eliminate all forces on the surface. Be prepared to make a perimeter." Rang the Captain's voice on the speakers.

"Alright, the ship is way too damaged to enter the atmosphere. There's a 60% chance we'll break up in re-entry." Tim calculated.

"Everyone into the tubes. They're heat shielded, so if we break up we'll basically be in drop pods." Aaron said. They all went back to their assigned tubes and closed them, not knowing that they wouldn't wake any time soon…

**END FLASHBACK **

**ABOUT TWO HOURS AFTER THE MANE 6 RUSH OUT OF THE QUEEN OF BATTLE…**

Aaron powered his way through the thick brush, using his retractable arm sword as a machete.

"Calvin, can you access any kind of GPS or guidance system?" Aaron asked.

"Negative sir, all systems are down, but I can reboot your HUD compass." Calvin answered.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Aaron said as he continued to make his way through the forest.

"Calvin, are there any transmissions, and what's the status on our cargo?" Aaron asked as he stepped over a downed tree.

"There are no transmissions, friend or foe, and our cargo was lost in re-entry. That is classified as a failed main objective." Calvin answered in a sad tone.

"Fuck! Well, I guess we'll have to just find someone and get some supplies, aka a fucking power source and a map." Aaron grumbled angrily.

"Well, I am picking up a large heat source to the North. Quickest route is over that small mountain." Calvin directed.

"Suit, maximum strength." Aaron ordered.

"_Maximum strength" _The suit replied in a deep but quiet voice. Aaron felt the suit tense up for a moment before becoming relaxed again, and then he leaped 50ft up a steep cliff. He successfully climbed up most of the mountain before he miscalculated his footing.

"Shit!" Was all Aaron could say before Calvin automatically locked the armor up….

**RANDOM WALKWAY**

Fluttershy walked along the path going back to Ponyville with her pet Angel. She'd finally calmed down from the incident in the mysterious vessel, and she was continuing her daily routine. Suddenly, a loud thud was heard from behind her. She whipped around, only to see a large cloud of dust on the path.

"Angel bunny, stay here." She commanded. She cautiously approached the impact site, not knowing why she suddenly so curious as to walk up to an unknown object. She carefully peeked into a small depression in the ground, only to find a strange looking metal creature lying there. Strangely, she didn't feel fear like she did before. She looked up and saw that it fell from high up, and was suddenly feeling worry for the creature, even if it was unknown to her.

She carefully observed the creature from the edge of the depression. She noted that it wore armor, and she was curious as to what its face looked like. She leaned in a little closer and strained to look into its eyes, but couldn't see through the reflective orange-red visor of the helmet. She slowly tried to see if she could move the creature's arm, but the armor felt so heavy and stiff. She decided she would hurry and tell Twilight before the creature woke up. Before she could turn around, the creature started to stir…

**AARON'S POV**

Aaron regained consciousness after hitting the ground. He used a telepathic control to unlock his armor, which undoubtedly saved his life. As he started to sit up, a strange sight caught his eye. A yellow creature, which strongly resembled a pony, stood only a few feet away from him. He noticed that the creature seemed to be afraid, severely shaking and taking an occasional step back.

Aaron simply grunted and got up. Another telepathic order to his suit and he heard,

"_Stealth engage_"

And with that, he was completely invisible and quickly ran off in a different direction.

**FLUTTERSHY'S POV**

Utter shock. That's all Fluttershy felt. The creature just looked at her and then disappeared into thin air. She had some relief, it didn't seem hostile. Either way, the first thing she did was fly as fast as she could to Twilight's.

"TWILIGHT!" She yelled as she practically broke the library door down.

"Yes Fluttershy, this better be important for you to bust down my door like that." Twilight said with some annoyance.

"I-I saw the t-thing!" Fluttershy yelled.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"I was walking on a dirt path by a cliff and it just fell. I walked right up to it. The thing looked right at me and then disappeared!" Fluttershy hollered.

"Hmm, what did it look like?" Twilight asked as she got a piece of paper and a quill.

"Well, it was really big, and looked like a metal monkey. It was made of metal, and when I tried to move its arm, it was too heavy and stiff." Fluttershy explained as she finally started to calm down.

"You just described a robot. I highly doubt you saw a robot." Twilight groaned.

"Come look for yourself, there's a big crater where it hit the ground." Fluttershy suggested.

"Alright, let's go check it out." Twilight said happily.

**SEVERAL MINUTES LATER…..**

Fluttershy took Twilight to the spot of second contact, and Twilight instantly showed interest in the crater.

"Hmm, it must have fallen from quite a long ways up. It surprises me that it was still able to move. A robot would have been damaged, and a living creature would have been severely injured or dead." Twilight mumbled to herself. "Fluttershy, I'm going to write some notes back at the library, do you want to teleport with me?"

"No, I still have a few things to do before tonight. I have to finish before that scheduled storm arrives. They always end up developing over the forest and getting out of control." Fluttershy said as she walked away. Twilight nodded and then disappeared.

**ABOUT TWO HOURS LATER…**

Fluttershy was in trouble. Not only did the storm start early, but she also somehow managed to lose control of a Manticore, which was currently chasing her. She knew that once a Manticore was angry, you were pretty much done unless you could escape, which wasn't very common. She ran as fast as she could through the trees until she became trapped by brush too thick to get through. She was too scared to use her wings and the stare didn't work, so the only thing she could do was cower in fear and let out a loud scream….

**ELSEWHERE IN THE FOREST…..**

Aaron sat atop a small hill that peeked above the trees. He travelled all day, but his compass seemed to be defective. He was travelling in circles. As he pondered what to do next, his advanced hearing tech picked up a scream of terror, which was just a short distance away.

"There's someone over there! I bet they could help my ass out!" Aaron shouted as he started sprinting to the noise.

"Aaron, keep in mind that there is a storm developing. I recommend you find shelter before it picks up." Calving suggested.

"Yeah sure, AFTER I find out who's out here with us." Aaron responded. He set his suit to maximum speed and went full force to the noise. He neared the location, and before he arrived, he saw a strange beast attacking something. He rushed in and attacked…

**FLUTTERSHY'S POV….**

Pain swept through her body as the beast hit her with its deadly claws , cutting deep wounds into her side. Fluttershy skidded across the ground before coming to a stop. She weakly looked up and saw the Manticore approach, ready to finish her off. As the beast prepared to attack, Fluttershy noticed the sound of fast, heavy footsteps. Suddenly, a dark figure blasted out of the tree line. Lightning struck, lighting up the dark scene. Time slowed as she watched the scene develop.

The creature she saw earlier was soaring through the air, heading to the Manticore's head. The light from the lightning made the creature's armor glow, but that's not what caught Fluttershy's attention the most.

In the bright light, the color of the creature's visor was lightened. She could see its eyes. They seemed to be at ease, calm, like nothing was happening. Just then, time sped back up. The creature slammed its fist into the Manticore's head, sending it flying into the trees. The creature recovered from the devastating blow it dealt, and started looking for something.

"Hello?" Fluttershy heard the creature say, in a strange low voice that was somewhat distorted by the helmet It wore and by the now bad storm. Fluttershy let out a small cry, and the creature noticed. She gave the creature a look of pain and fear, and then started to black out. The last thing she saw and heard was the creature running up to her and saying,

"Don't worry, I gotcha."

_**Whoo it's been awhile. **_

_**My excuse? **_

_**Work, Army shit, more work.**_

_**Savior Rising 2 is being overhauled and edited right now, so I decided to publish this. I started it in training, so hopefully you all like the shit out of this as much as Savior Rising. **_

_**Once Savior 2 is done being dumbass proofed, I will begin uploading. **_

_**Quote of the Day- "I should call Lee and tell him I fell, broke my leg, started on fire, blew up twice and then contracted supercaids, a mixture of super cancer and extreme aids. Oh yea and that I also have nuclear diarrhea." – Me telling Stan my idea for an excuse to skip work. **_


	2. Friendlies to Hostiles

**ERMAHGERD CHERPTER TWO**

Fluttershy woke up in the middle of the night. The storm was raging outside, but she was safe in a cave.

'_Wait, I didn't go to a cave!' _She thought. She started to panic before she realized what happened. She was attacked, and then saved. She looked at her wounds, they were wrapped up in a strange bandage and there was a minimal amount of pain. She looked across the cave and saw the creature sitting with its back to her, facing outside of the cave.

She tried to move, but accidentally tipped over a metal cup. She mentally cursed herself for the noise, hoping whatever that thing was didn't hear it. She looked up from the cup, only to see the large bulky figure with its head turned to her. Lightning flashed, illuminating the creature's helmet visor, revealing the frightening orange-red color it had. The creature slowly stood up and turned to face her completely. Fluttershy curled up from fear as the creature took heavy steps toward her, its footsteps making a loud thud for every step, as if it weighed a thousand pounds. The thing was much taller than her, making her fear rise even more. It kneeled down and stared at her with its blank orange-red visor, which made Fluttershy uncomfortable.

Just then, the orange tint of the visor disappeared as Aaron de-polarized his visor, allowing Fluttershy to see his eyes for a brief moment as the lighting once again lit up the cave.

Even though she only saw the creature's eyes for a brief second in the flash of lightning, she couldn't believe how deep they were. They were a dark green, and looked at her with a look of concern. Suddenly, he spoke.

"I know you're sentient. If you weren't then you wouldn't have been able to make facial expressions of fear." He said calmly. His voice sounded deep and smooth, minus the sound of his voice being projected through what sounded like a radio, due to his helmet being sealed.

"I-" was all she could say before the unthinkable happened. A large paw reached in and snatched Aaron right as she was about to talk. The paw belonged to the Manticore from earlier, and boy was it PISSED. It held Aaron as it flew straight up into the air, and then dropped him from high up. Fluttershy thought for sure he was going to die.

"Calvin, what' the status on the thruster pack?" Aaron shouted as he tumbled through the air.

"98% left in power supply." Calvin replied.

"Lock the armor and activated thrusters right before impact, it's our best bet." Aaron said calmly. Calvin obeyed and locked the armor. He activated the thruster pack about 10 feet from the ground. Aaron landed with a loud thud, but it wasn't as loud as the first time he fell. He stood up and faced his opponent.

"Come here you fucked up kitty cat." He said menacingly as he stepped in the Manticore's direction. The Manticore realized Aaron wasn't bullshitting, and got ready for a fight. They circled for a minute, studying each other. Aaron remembered that he had his sidearm, so he pulled it from its holster and tried to fire it.

_*Click*_

"Damn! No ammo!" Aaron cursed as he angrily put the pistol back.

"Aaron, I am picking up an abnormal amount of electrons building around us. We need to get out of the open before lightning strikes us." Calvin warned.

"Oh well, it's either me or this stupid thing!" Aaron yelled as he charged the beast. They collided and seemed to be evenly matched for strength, until lightning stuck its annoying nose in the matter. The bolt struck Aaron directly, knocking the beast off him and making Aaron collapse at the same time.

Fluttershy watched as the Manticore limped away in defeat, and then she rushed to Aaron.

"O-oh n-no!" She cried, realizing that the creature defended her twice, and possibly died in the process. She immediately flew to Twilights place in record time. She spent no time getting Twilight to the spot. Twilight, after a slight freakout, she concentrated enough to teleport them back to the library.

"You actually saw one! And it saved you from a Manticore, TWICE!" Twilight raged. She was overexcited at the moment, having a legendary Precursor in her own house.

"Twilight, it was struck by lightning, is it alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't know, let's take a closer look." Twilight answered as they started to inspect the body of the human super soldier.

"Hmmm, strange. It's armor is extremely heavy. I wonder how strong these Precursors really are." Twilight thought out loud.

"He punched a Manticore in the head and sent it flying into the trees." Fluttershy said. Twilight suddenly didn't feel all to safe being next to an unconscious being.

"Wait, there's something on its chest. 'Khaos', what is…. Chaos!" Twilight said loudly." What if it's a Discord minion?!" Fluttershy panicked.

"Not likely, he's a statue right now. I'll put some magical bindings on this thing and we'll see what we can learn when it wakes up." Twilight said as she cast a binding spell.

**LE NEXT MORNING **

Aaron woke with a slight headache. He looked out of his visor, his HUD was offline and Calvin was in sleep stage, recovering from the lightning strike. He tried to move his arms, but he seemed to be restrained. He looked around, seeing he was in a strange library looking place. He looked over to his left and saw the yellow pony thing he saved earlier. It seemed to be asleep on a couch.

'_Strange…_' He thought to himself. Just then, a purple pony thing stepped into his view. It seemed to be a unicorn, which thoroughly mindfucked Aaron.

"I see you're awake!" It said in a feminine voice. Now, Aaron knew they were sentient and capable of talking, based off his observations from Fluttershy, but it still freaked him out. He simply stared at her.

"So do you have a face or are you just a robot thing?" She asked, not being able to see through his visor. He didn't answer. Twilight sighed and let his binds go, allowing him to move freely. He stood to his full height, which was around 6'8".

"Pleasure to meet you." He said, his helmet distorting his voice like before, giving the impression he was robotic.

"So you do talk!" Twilight chirped.

"Indeed. How we speak the same language, I'll never understand." Aaron said as he tried manually rebooting his systems.

"That is weird. So…. what was it like back when your people ruled?" Twilight pressed.

"Well, it was alright for us until a savage alien race started attacking us. The galaxy was full of war. Eventually, we made our last stand here, our seed planet some called it. It was where we were sending DNA from many species, and relocating our people in secret. My ship was shot down after we used the Alamo weapons." Aaron explained as he finally got a response from his systems.

"War? All over the galaxy?" Twilight asked, astounded.

"Yep. The Alamo weapon was made to destroy any all unprotected sentient life in the galaxy. My team went into cryogenic hibernation as our ship crash landed. Next thing I know, I'm here, with a bunch of talking ponies." Aaron said as his HUD display flickered on.

"Is that strange? You didn't have ponies in your time?" Twilight asked.

"Not ones that could talk, and they really didn't look anything like you do." Aaron stated.

"Hey, what are you doing there?" Twilight asked as she watched Aaron push buttons on his wrist pad.

"Turning my systems back on. I have advanced displays in my helmet that let me see in the dark, track motion and heartbeats, view body heat, and other stuff." Aaron said as Calvin came back online.

"Aaron, may I advise you to NEVER do that again?" Calvin said angrily.

"Who was that?" Twilight asked.

"My AI, or artificial intelligence. It's a computer program that is almost like another being. Calvin is mine, and he helps me control my armor and navigate me and stuff." Aaron explained.

Fluttershy suddenly stirred and woke up. She nearly screamed at the sight of Aaron standing by Twilight.

"I-it's a-awake!" She stammered in fear.

"Yes, and HE is actually very nice." Twilight said to Fluttershy.

"H-he?" Fluttershy said.

"Yes, I am a he. Now, if you don't mind, I need to find a power source. I don't suppose you have any major power source do you?" Aaron sarcastically asked.

"Well, we do have electricity, but our technology isn't nearly as great as yours." Twilight complimented.

"Indeed. It appears the storm outside is not over. I suggest we stay indoors until it passes so we don't attract lightning again." Calvin said.

"Right, and plus I'll need to make a plan to get out of here. I don't think the townsfolk will take kindly to a new being from the past." Aaron added.

"Y-you could turn invisible, couldn't you?" Fluttershy whispered.

"Yes, but that ability only lasts for so long. I'll have to stop and take cover while it recharges every so often until I get out of town." Aaron explained. This surprised Twilight. Normally Fluttershy wasn't so quick to talk to strangers. Maybe it was the fact that he went out of his way to save her.

"Tomorrow the storm should be over. I'll head out early, so I don't bother anyone." Aaron said.

"Any-what?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"Any-one, as in I won't bother whoever may be on the streets during the day." Aaron explained.

"Oh, you mean anypony!" Twilight corrected.

"Uhh…. sure….." Aaron chuckled as he planned his route. Through the window, down some alleys, and then into the woods. It was a perfect escape.

"Alright, I'm going to camp out in this room if that's alright." Aaron stated as he sat up against a book case.

"Sure, make yourself at home. Fluttershy and I will go upstairs." Twilight said happily. Fluttershy and Twilight went up the stairs and went to bed, for it was late. Aaron had Calvin set an alarm for 03:00, which was the time he was going to continue his search for a power source.

**03:00 HOURS**

"Aaron, it is 03:00. Time to resume the mission." Calvin announced.

"Mmmmphmnfuck." Aaron mumbled as he slowly woke up.

"Sir, I know its early, especially for someone who just recovered from 40,000 years of cryogenic sleep AND getting struck by lightning, but please do keep your whining to a minimum." Calvin remarked.

"Ok Calvin, I don't remember activating your smartass software." Aaron joked as he checked his suit's supplies.

"90% thruster pack power, 100% shield integrity, 100% power left for wrist scorcher, 8 shots with the concentrated wrist beam, and four anti-tank shoulder rockets." Calvin reported.

"That's enough to defend myself in case any more asshole creatures show up." Aaron chuckled as he loaded his wrist beam (think Iron Man 2). He quietly crept out of the library and started making his way through the town. The whole population was still asleep, so he made it to the woods fairly fast.

"Alright Calvin, you think you can reconfigure the compass?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, but it will take some time."

"Perfect, more sleep for me." Aaron said with a grin.

Aaron proceeded to lean up against a tree and fall asleep.

**07:00 HOURS**

"Aaron, compass is fixed and ready to be used." Calvin reported, waking up the soldier.

"Hmmm, great." Aaron yawned as he stood up. "Calvin, do you smell… smoke?"

"Seeing as I'm an AI, no. However, I am picking up traces of smoke from a fire. Go southeast and you'll find the source." Calvin calculated. Aaron started a medium paced jog toward the fire. He figured he would check out everything in the area, and hopefully a power source would be located. He suddenly quickened his pace when he heard shouting and screaming.

He ended up in an apple orchard, and soon enough came across the fire. It was a small clubhouse, with what appeared to be three small children inside.

"Shields on, seal helmet." Aaron commanded. The suit complied and he rushed up to the fire, jumping through a window. He landed inside, cracking the floor and making the structure even more unstable. He looked to the corner of the clubhouse that was not engulfed in flames and saw the three kids. They looked at him in absolute horror as he scrambled up to them and picked them up. He effortlessly kicked the door out and rushed through some flames, his shield systems protecting himself and the three children he carried.

He jumped away from the clubhouse and rolled across the ground, dropping the three fillies as he put out the fire that clung to his body.

"Apple Bloom!" Rang a voice with a southern accent. Applejack, Big Mac, and several other ponies rushed to the scene. Aaron finished putting out the fire that drained most of his shields, and was forced to take his helmet off because of toxic gasses building up.

The whole crowd gasped as he took his helmet off. Amongst the crowd was none other than Fluttershy, who waited in anticipation as Aaron reluctantly and slowly removed his cover.

She stared in awe as she studied his face. His hair was short, in a military high and tight cut. He had tan skin, and his eyes were hard and full of determination.

"What in the hay are you?" Applejack questioned as she backed the young ones away from him. He simply looked at her and hardened him gaze. He was not amused with her hostility.

"I am Aaron C-4005." He responded with. Fluttershy marveled at the smoothness of his voice when his helmet didn't distort it.

"What are you?" asked a random pony in the crowd.

"I am a human warrior from 40,000 years ago, before your kind existed. I was tasked with protecting this planet. I am searching for a power source to restore power to my squad mates cryo tubes, and to secure each package of precious cargo." Aaron explained, earning confused looks from the crowd.

"What?" Yelled another pony from somewhere in the crowd.

Aaron rubbed his brow in frustration. These ponies had no idea how important this was.

"Listen, my friends are stuck in freezers basically. They've been in there for 40,000 years. I need to get them out so we can find the things we were supposed to transport to the core of the planet." He tried to explain further in a way they could understand. They continued to look at him in confusion.

Aaron groaned and put his hand to his face, annoyed with their inability to realize the importance of his mission. Suddenly, his stomach let out a ferocious roar. Some of the crowd laughed.

"Damnit." Aaron whispered.

"C'mon Mr. Ancient, lets get ya some food." Applejack said as she motioned for him to follow. The crowd parted and watched with fearful and amazed eyes as the giant walked by, each footstep making a loud thud.

He followed Applejack what he assumed to be her house. She signaled him to wait, so he stood outside the door, in full view of the crowd that still hung around.

"Sir, all filtration systems are restored, it is safe to put your headgear back on." Calvin's voice said in the helmet.

"In a minute, I guess I'm about to get some food." Aaron responded.

AJ soon returned and handed him a plate of various vegetables and fruits. Only a little was edible for him, such as apples, carrots, and lettuce. He stayed away from the flowers and the small amount of hay.

"Partner, why didn't you finish your food?" Applejack asked.

"I don't eat flowers." He answered.

"What? Why?" Asked one of the fillies he saved.

"Because humans are omnivores. We don't eat the same stuff." He replied.

"Omni-what?" Somepony asked.

"Oh no." Fluttershy whispered.

"Meaning I can only eat some veggies and fruits. The other part of our diet is meat." He said.

The crowd gasped and backed away. Aaron looked around and noticed their scared expressions.

"HE'S A PREDATOR!" one of the randoms screamed, causing the crowd to panic and scatter. Some fled, others grabbed nearby gardening equipment and circled around Aaron.

"So it's gonna be that way, huh?" He said with a small amount of disappointment. He put his helmet on and polarized the visor.

"_Stealth Engaged." _

Aaron disappeared before their eyes. He quickly jumped over their heads, and swiftly landed. The stealth settings helped muffle the sound of his jump.

"Where'd he go?!" was all he heard as he sprinted away, back into the woods he came from.

.

.

**Seriousness level rising. Shitstorm in chapter 3.**

**Plot developing good so far? Yes? No? Lemme hear ya in them reviews! **

**Also, feel free to ask questions and shit in the reviews. If I find the question interesting enough, I may answer it in the next chapter. **

**Quote of the Day- "Let's do drugs and a lot of crime." – The infamous Stan you all know and love. Yes, he will have a lot of quotes in this story. **


	3. Making matters worse

**~Le Chapter Thrice~**

**.**

**.**

"Splendid way of introducing yourself to the locals, Aaron." Calvin said as Aaron entered the broken down cryo tube room of his ship.

"Yea, it's still better than how my campaign on Mepsphur started." Aaron grumbled. He pushed debris away from the armory and searched for the unlock.

"Damn! It's locked. Going to need power to get to my weapons." Aaron shouted as he pounded on the reinforced armory.

"I would suggest searching the small arms crates, my last scans 40,000 years ago state that they were stocked with ammunition. You should be able to fill your sidearm inventory." Calvin suggested.

"That works I guess. A pistol is better than nothing." Aaron said as he sifted through a crate. He found more ammo than needed, and he even found an ammo compressor, which was a classified piece of equipment smaller than a cell phone but could hold thousands of rounds in magazines by altering their molecular structure. It compressed the magazines with ammo into microscopic size. Very handy. It's short name is the AC-G4.

"Sweet." Aaron said as he loaded his sidearm and put the AC-G4 on his utility belt. "Now, let's analyze our squad mates' vitals."

Aaron made his way over to the main console and inserted Calvin, whose human appearance projected onto the tabletop.

"Hmm, it seems that our comrades are all safely in cryosleep. It shouldn't take much to open all of their pods, but we won't be able to use the same power source to open the armory." Calvin calculated.

"We'll focus on getting our guys out first. Then we'll get our weapons." Aaron concluded.

_*BANG!* _

Aaron quickly drew his pistol and turned around.

"Calvin, I'll be right back." He stated as he slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway. He gripped his pistol with both hands, his stance hard and ready. He activated his night vision, but didn't see anything.

"_Oh I got something for that, you sneaky bastard." _He thought as he turned on thermal. Down at the end of the extremely long hallway was a hot spot. Aaron laughed quietly as he approached the blob of red, not caring that every step he took clanked loudly.

He walked up to the heap of metal that the blob hid behind and quickly jumped around it, flicking his helmets built in flashlights on and turning thermal off. There, curled up in a shivering ball, was Fluttershy.

Aaron immediately holstered his pistol and kneeled down.

"What are you doing here, little pony." He asked, his voice sounding raspy and electronic from his helmet's voice emitter.

"I-I-I-I…" She stammered, afraid to answer.

"Do you not trust me, like the others?" Aaron asked.

She slowly shook her head and came out from behind her mane a bit, showing she was getting used to him.

"Come then, if you really trust me, maybe you can help me." He stated as he held out his armored hand.

She looked at his hand, then at his visor. How could something so frightening be so kind and gentle? She looked deep into the visor, seeing her reflection. She slowly reached her hoof out and placed it in the palm of his hand. She felt a trickle of fear as his fingers closed around her hoof, but he was gentle. He helped her up, and stood back to his full height.

"Follow me." He said. He walked back down the hallway, feet clanking loudly. This did not seem to scare Fluttershy anymore, as she saw firsthand how gentle this creature of old was, even though he was a warrior. She walked fast to catch up to him.

"Um… Mr?" She near whispered. His head turned and looked down at her.

"Yes?" He answered. She could detect the smoothness of his voice, but the helmet drowned most of it out.

"Ummm….. why are you here?" She asked innocently. He couldn't help to let a small smile appear. She was adorable.

"I'll have Calvin explain when we get back to the cryo deck." He said. They walked a few more feet and entered the room, where Calvin awaited.

"I-s he a g-g-ghost?!" She squeaked, seeing Calvin's transparent form.

"No, he is just my companion of sorts." Aaron reassured. "Calvin, do her a favor and give her the lowdown on what is going on." Aaron commanded.

"Right away sir. 40,000 years ago, the galaxy was in chaos. A savage alien race found our outer colonies and immediately started killing off all our people. We tried to reason with them at first, but they were hostile towards all of our negotiators. Eventually, we declared galaxy-wide war on them. They were similar in appearance to us, save for the dark green skin they sported, and strange language they spoke. We took to calling them Orcs. The Orcs continued their rampage through our system, causing mass hysteria. On the larger colony worlds and even the mother-world, Earth, groups sprouted up saying the Orc's path of destruction was the rapture, and they quickly developed into terrorist groups.

Two years after the war started, we were now fighting two fronts, so to speak. One with the Orcs, another with our own kind. We were almost evenly matched with the Orcs, until a new weapon was introduced. They had developed super-soldiers, capable of causing ten times the destruction of an entire company of regular soldiers." Calvin explained as he brought up a video on a small screen.

PVT. ALDENWORTH, VIDEO JOURNAL

"Sarge, they're pressing forward again!"

"Aldenworth, man the turret!"

(Three large armored Orcs appear)

"What the hell are those?!"

(One shoots rocket into Aldenworth's position, screen goes black)

END TRANSMISSION

"The humans needed a counter to the Orc's super-soldiers, so they began the Crusader program. The first generation Crusaders were ineffective, to say the least. They lacked the advanced armor the Orcs had. It wasn't until GEN-3 Crusaders were produced that the humans acquired armor. They had managed to kill an Orc super-soldier and recover the armor. Our scientist reverse engineered it and made it into what Aaron wears now. Although they had successfully made a new weapon to counter the Orcs own, we were still fighting a losing battle. The Orcs soon made it to Earth and wiped out all the inhabitants, leaving only Praxis-3 and Seed-1 as the last two untouched planets in the galaxy. Praxis-3 became the military headquarters for the humans, and Seed-1, well, the planet we stand on now is Seed-1." Calvin lectured.

Fluttershy gasped at the news.

"Aaron and his team were part of a fleet of cruisers and battleships that defended this planet from the Orc menace. Aaron performed several missions on this planet; possibly in the very spot your hometown is located now. We set up many hidden instillations here, many inside mountains and hidden underground. Mini-cities were built under the surface as well, ready to house thousands of civilians if the Orcs managed to attack Praxis-3. It wasn't until the final days of the war that Aaron's team was assigned the most important mission known to mankind. Escort separate power cores to the planet and join the together. They would help protect the planet from the Orc onslaught. Before the cores could be assembled on the planet, this ship, known as the Queen Of Battle, was shot down during the Alamo event. The Alamo was a codename for our greatest weapon. When fired, it wiped out all unprotected sentient life. The Alamo seemingly ended the war, but at the same time, it has appeared to wipe our species from existence." Calvin concluded.

Fluttershy stood speechless. The strange creature she was befriending lost his home, his people, friends, family, and was locked away for 40,000 years. Sadness enveloped her and she ran to Aaron, standing on her hind legs and hugging him.

"What…." He said before seeing her face, which tears trailed down. "What's wrong?" He asked, feeling something he hadn't felt in years. Sadness.

"I-I'm so sorry about your friends and worlds! I never imagined something s-so terrible c-could ever happen!" She cried as she buried her face into his armored torso.

"Hey, take it easy. It's alright. Who knows, maybe our guys got some people in the shelters here. We just have to find the power cores." He said calmly. He kneeled down and took off his helmet, showing his face to her. He looked her in the eyes. "It's all going to be ok. Humans aren't gone, there are several of us in this very room. All I need to wake them up is one power core. Will you help me find it?" He asked as he put his hand under her chin, using his armored thumb to wipe some tears away.

Fluttershy nodded slowly and calmed down a bit.

"Good. Now, has anyone found any kind of extremely powerful objects? They were sealed in separate tubes." Aaron questioned.

"No, but Princess Celestia might know." Fluttershy said.

"Hmmm, I know where the cores where supposed to be delivered. We can check there first, and if they aren't there we can ask this Princess of yours." Aaron planned.

"Alright, but what about my animals?" Fluttershy asked.

"What?" Aaron asked in confusion.

"I have animals to take care of at my home. I couldn't possibly ask anypony else or they might find out." She explained.

"Oh I like you! You're smart. Here, take this." Aaron said as he handed her a small device. "Push that button, and it will transport you to where I am. That way, you can travel from your house to me without anyone knowing."

"What about talking to the Princess? How will you get to her in the castle? Word of your appearance is traveling quickly." Fluttershy stated.

"Don't tell me you forgot how we first met my dear." Aaron laughed. Fluttershy thought back to how he turned invisible before her eyes.

"I remember. What happened anyway?" she asked.

"Tried to climb a cliff, gravity decided to show me how well it works." Aaron retorted, making Fluttershy giggle. "In all seriousness, this could be dangerous. Are you sure you want to come along?"

Fluttershy thought hard for a long minute before turning to Aaron with determined eyes.

"Yes. I'm in. I know you are not as bad as everypony thinks, and I trust you." She finally said. Aaron patted her on the head and turned to Calvin.

"That's what I like to hear Ms….."

"Fluttershy, my name is Fluttershy." She finished for him.

"Nice to meet you. I am Sergeant First Class Aaron Young. Welcome to the team. Calvin, put the core drop point into my HUD, let's suit up and move out."

**BACK IN PONYVILLE**

"What is going on?!" Twilight asked as the town panicked.

"Run! There's a bloodthirsty monster on the loose!" Shouted somepony.

"Monster? What?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"The monkey with the armor! He's going to kill us all!" Another shouted.

Twilight looked around in shock as her friends and neighbors ran in all direction. Some began to board up their houses, while others just ran around.

She quickly turned and ran back to the library, furious that Aaron betrayed the town.

**TO AARON AND FLUTTERSHY**

**.**

"So, all the creatures I take care of originally came from your planet?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

"Basically, except for the Manitcore and those other beasts you told me about. I have no damn clue where they came from." Aaron answered as he cut away thick vines with his arm sword. "Everything on this planet was transferred from Earth. How Unicorns and Pegasi came to be I do not know either. Must be evolution."

"Evo-what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Evolution, the process of a species changing and adapting to certain things over a long period of time." Calvin explained.

"Alright Calvin, enough with the long-winded explanations." Aaron scolded.

"Yes sir." Calvin replied.

"So Fluttershy, is it really that strange for an omnivore to exist here?" Aaron asked.

"Well, no. Some of the animals I take care of are omnivorous, and even the Griffons are, but they've been around long enough for us to trust them" Fluttershy answered quietly.

"Griffons too? Damn." Aaron mumbled. Then, he got an idea.

"Hey Fluttershy, you think you could fly above the forest and just follow me? I'm going to put on max speed so we can get there faster." Aaron asked. Fluttershy nodded and flew up above the trees.

"_Maximum Speed" _

Aaron took off at an extremely high speed, with Fluttershy following in the sky. It was easy for her to see where he was, being the trees shook violently as he sprinted past them. Soon enough, they came across a familiar sight for Fluttershy.

"I've been here before!" She quietly exclaimed.

"What the hell? I know for a fact we didn't build this core station out of stone. Clavin, double check the coordinates." Aaron barked.

"I triple checked, this is indeed the spot. I would assume that the locals have built over this station entrance in the past in a way to honor the ones who created it." Calvin deduced.

"Sort of like our ancient people, worshiping things they didn't quite understand." Aaron added.

"Try looking for a sealed door. It may lead to the real entrance." Calvin said.

"Fluttershy, help me look around." Aaron called. Fluttershy nodded and started studying the room with Aaron. After a long thirty minutes of searching, Aaron finally found a clue.

"Here!" He called to Fluttershy. He pushed with all his might, slowly moving a large block. The block moved back, and then fell into the floor revealing a narrow passage.

"W-we have to g-go down t-t-there?!" Fluttershy stammered, looking into the spider web covered passage.

"Yea, don't worry, I have a solution." Aaron said as his helmet flashlights turned on. He reached into his small cargo pocket he had attached to his left leg and pulled out a glow stick. "Here, break that and shake it. It's like a lantern of sorts."

Fluttershy broke the stick, and marveled at the chemical reaction that made it glow a bright yellow color. Aaron waved to her, and she followed close behind. The small dark passage soon turned into a steep staircase, which took ten minutes to climb down.

"Stay close to me, never know what kind of security systems are still online." Aaron warned as he slowed his walking. "Calvin, it's dark as hell in here, see if you can get some exterior lights activated on the front door." Aaron ordered.

"Right away sir." Calvin responded. Seconds later, a bright light flickered on. They found the door. It was rusted from the dampness of the cave, and all Aaron had to do to enter was give it a firm kick.

"So what do these cores look like exactly Mr. Aaron?" Fluttershy asked.

"They were sealed in silver colored cylinders, and please, just call me Aaron."

"Ok Aaron." Fluttershy smiled, even though she knew she sided with probably the most hated being in Equestria.

Aaron led Fluttershy to a circular room with seven individual pedestals. All were void of the cores.

"Damnit!" Aaron shouted, making Fluttershy cower. "The ancient locals must have gotten to them somehow. Fluttershy, what is the greatest source of power you know of? Surely they wouldn't have been taken without knowing how powerful they were." Aaron asked.

"Well, there are the Elements of Harmony." She said while thinking.

"Elements of what now?"

"Elements of Harmony. They spread love and friendship, and helped us defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord." Fluttershy explained.

"Wait…. Do they only work if they are together?" Aaron excitedly asked.

"Yes. If one element is absent, the others don't work to their full power."

"I bet the Elements are the cores! That sounds just like them. Individually they have a small amount of power, but together they are unstoppable. Where are they?" Aaron asked.

"The Princess has them locked away in her castle." Fluttershy said sadly.

"We'll just have to break into the room she's keeping them in." Aaron replied.

"But you can only open the door with a magical spell that only she knows." Fluttershy countered.

"Nothing a little C4 can't handle. Let's get back to the Queen. If we're lucky, we can find some C4." Aaron stated.

"C4?" Fluttershy repeated.

"High explosives."

**PONYVILLE**

Twilight furiously drug the quill across the paper as she scribbled down a letter of warning to Princess Celestia.

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I regret to inform you that there is a monster on the loose. It turns out that the ancient beings that populated this world before us are still alive. One of them allegedly attacked some of the populace here in Ponyville, sending the town into a panic. I respectfully request a small detachment of guards to be deployed to Ponyville to guard the town from this menace. Extreme caution is advised, he seems to be heavily armored and more powerful than any guard you possess. _

_Your faithful student,_

_~Twilight Sparkle. _

"Spike, please send this to the Princess. It's urgent." Twilight sternly commanded.

"Uh, sure." Spike replied as he grabbed the letter. He breathed in deeply and exhaled, blowing out a small amount of flame that whisked the letter away. Twilight looked out the window and watched as crudely drawn images of Aaron were posted up all over town. The image was greatly over exaggerated, showing Aaron with huge pointed teeth and blood smeared over his face and upper body.

"I never thought he would turn out this way. He seemed so nice, and he saved Fluttershy, twice!" She near shouted in anger.

"Take it easy Twi, from what I heard he's actually pretty cool. He saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders from a fire. That doesn't sound like a monster to me." Spike argued.

"Spike, he near took out a Manticore in one hit and is a carnivore. He's a threat to us all!" Twilight yelled.

"I heard he was an omnivore, and besides that's what I am, the Griffons too." Spike pressed.

"But we can trust you, he's from a different time and he's obviously built for war. He is a threat and we need to eliminate him immediately." Twilight retorted, stamping her hoof. Spike backed off and left the room, grumbling under his breath.

"Let's just hope the guards can take him down before he hurts somepony." Twilight whispered.

**SOME TIME LATER, BACK AT THE QUEEN OF BATTLE**

"Let's see here…." Aaron mumbled as he ransacked crates, looking for C4. Fluttershy stood on the opposite side of the room, dodging the occasional random piece of equipment that Aaron tossed over his shoulder as he searched.

Fluttershy decided to go look at the other unopened cryo tubes to pass time. She walked up to the nearest tube and wiped some of the frost away, revealing a large suit of armor. She looked up and saw the name 'SPC Will'.

"He's a good soldier. You'd probably like him. He may look big and mean, but on the inside of that armor lies a heart of pure gold." Aaron said from behind her. Fluttershy looked to Aaron, then back to SPC Will's tube. She lightly smiled and the turned to face Aaron again.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked.

"That, plus a few extra toys that will make our lives easier. I have enough C4 to take down any door, plus some tranq. rounds and a rifle that will knock out any guards that block our way." Aaron said as he put the sniper type rifle on his back. "Here, I found something you can use." Aaron stated as he tossed a small device to Fluttershy.

"What's this?" She asked as she examined the object.

"It's a small stealth harness, made for normal foot soldiers without power armor like me. Press the button and you have invisibility until you press it again." Aaron explained.

Fluttershy looked the object over, not sure what to do with it.

"Here, I'll put it on you." Aaron said as he walked over to her. He kneeled down and took the harness. He pulled the straps out and put it on Fluttershy. "There, fits almost perfect. It should provide some protection against any kind of attack, so long as it isn't with anything big." Aaron said as he pick up his helmet.

"Thank you." Fluttershy said.

"No problem. Now, let's see what toys are still intact in the vehicle bay." Aaron said as he put his helmet on.

"What do you mean vehicles?" Fluttershy asked.

"We have a handy scout vehicle that is fast and agile. Should get us to wherever we're going quicker than walking. Follow me." Aaron said as he turned his flashlights on and walked out of the room. Fluttershy followed Aaron down dark tunnels that she didn't know of. It was amazing to her how big the ship really was. Soon enough, they reached large black void.

Aaron turned his night vision on and looked around. He didn't like what he saw. Scattered throughout the large vehicle bay was bodies of troopers. Their skeletons littered the floor, covered by tattered pieces of clothing and regular body armor.

"Fluttershy, stay close to me." Aaron ordered. Fluttershy complied and walked closer behind him. All she could see was the lights from his helmet, and wherever they pointed.

Aaron led her through a maze of twisted and wrecked vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Finally, Aaron stopped.

"Here we go!" He exclaimed happily. He bent over and pulled something bulky, then pressed a few buttons. A small screen lit up and the vehicle levitated.

"Power source at 91%. Enough to circle the planet one time." Calvin reported.

"Good. Fluttershy, sit right here." Aaron pointed to a spot right by the small screen. Fluttershy slowly mounted the vehicle. She looked at the strange meters and gauges on the screen, wondering what they all meant. Suddenly, she felt Aaron get on right behind her. He armored chest pressed against her back, and his arms reached out in front of her.

He grabbed two weird handle looking things, and then revved the engine.

"Alright, just hold on to that little bar right there. My arms will keep you from falling off to the side." Aaron said. "Calvin, open the bay doors." He ordered. A second of silence passed before a loud grinding noise echoed through the room. A large door slowly cracked open, letting in the first outside light in 40,000 years.

The door opened upward, with rocks crumbling and falling away from it. Soon enough, there was a hole large enough to fly through.

"Hold on." Aaron said. Fluttershy grabbed hold of the little bar, and Aaron thrust his arm forward. The vehicle lurched forward at an incredible speed, and they were soon flying into the late evening sky over the large Everfree forest.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" Fluttershy screamed as the small vehicle flew through the air.

"WHOOO!" Aaron cheered as he held the throttle wide open. "Hey, where is this castle you were talking about?" Aaron yelled over the rushing wind.

"It's in Canterlot, go that way to the mountain." Fluttershy answered. Aaron turned the vehicle to the left and headed toward the mountain. He could make out a city on the side.

"Alright, here's the gameplan, we'll park the scout bike on a cliff or something and walk around the back of the city. Hopefully we can find an unused sewer or something. We'll sneak into the city, make our way into the castle, and take the elements." Aaron explained to Fluttershy, who was starting to enjoy the ride.

**TEN MINUTES LATER**

Aaron carefully maneuvered around the mountain so he wouldn't be spotted. He parked the vehicle behind a large rock and activated a stealth setting so only he could see it with his visor. He quietly led Fluttershy around the back of the city.

"Looks like this is our best bet." He said as he pulled a heavy iron grate off an old sewer pipe. He climbed in and turned to Fluttershy. "It might make it easier if I meet you in the castle. Go to the biggest room, and I'll meet you there. Don't be surprised when I tap you on the shoulder." He stated as he replaced the grate.

"Right, see you there." Fluttershy said meekly. She wasn't accustomed to secret missions, especially with a creature that she knew all of Equestria hated at the moment. She quickly flew to the front gate and walked by the guards. They paid no attention to her, as she was an Element. They did look at the strange harness she wore.

Other than some strange looks, nothing happened that would compromise the mission. Eventually, she entered the castle and went to the main ballroom. She only had to wait five minutes before she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She somehow resisted the urge to yelp, and slowly turned around.

"Shhh, I have about ten minutes before my stealth has to recharge. Lead me to the elements." whispered Aaron, who was still invisible. Fluttershy nodded and casually started walking to where the Elements were stored. She wondered ho Aaron was keeping so quiet. She couldn't hear his footsteps at all.

Eventually she came to the large hallway that lead to the enchanted door that only Celestia could unlock. Aaron exited stealth mode and quickly set charges on the outside lining of the door.

"Alright, once I blow this thing, we can't turn back. You'll be stuck with me till this is over. Are you still with me?" Aaron asked as he kneeled down to her and held out his hand. Fluttershy looked at him and thought for a moment.

"Yes. I'm in." She said with a small smile, placing her hoof in his hand. They shook hands/hooves and then got ready for the explosion.

"Cover your ears. After I set it off, I'll rush in and take the Elements. After that, you can bet the guards will be all over this place. Plan of escape is through that window." Aaron planned as he kneeled in front of Fluttershy to protect her from the blast. He took out the remote and pressed the button.

_**BOOM **_

The blast shook that wing of the castle and sent pieces of the door flying through windows. The shockwave shattered almost every other window in the hall. Aaron instantly jumped up and sprinted into the cloud of dust. He came out ten seconds later with the elements in his cargo pockets.

As he prepared his rappel ropes, the doors on the other side of the hall burst open. Around ten guards rushed in and saw Aaron. They started throwing spears, and Aaron simply picked Fluttershy up and jumped out the window. The small braces for the stained glass art broke apart and fell with them.

Aaron used his thruster pack to slow the fall, and then took off running through the courtyard.

"Alright, from here we try to use stealth. I'll drop any guards who linger to long. Stay with me." Aaron said. He took the rifle off his back and tactically moved down the hallway. Every so often he would hide from a passing guard, and on few occasions he'd use the rifle to knock out a guard or two. Soon enough, they made it to the outer wall surrounding the castle.

"That's our way out." He said as he pointed to a catapult.

"W-what?" She stammered. Suddenly, a spear passed right between the two. Aaron turned and saw a squad of extremely pissed off guards approaching. He quickly grabbed Fluttershy and jumped into the catapult. He took out his pistol and aimed at the release lever. He shot, and they were both launched into the air.

"WHAT ARE YOUCRAZY?!" Fluttershy screamed as they sailed through the air and over the wall. Aaron chuckled and activated his thrusters, propelling them in the direction of the scout bike. They landed and Aaron started the bike up.

"They'll be here soon to investigate. We should leave."

Fluttershy stood in shock, amazed by his skill in stealth and planning.

"Yea, uhh, ok." She mumbled. Aaron picked her up and set her on the bike. He pushed the throttle handles forward and they sped away from the scene.

**THAT NIGHT, TWILIGHTS LIBRARY**

"Twilight! Twilight!" Spike called.

"Yes, what is it?" I got a letter from the Princess!" Spike yelled.

"Let me see it." Twilight said.

_My most faithful student,_

_I regret to inform you that the creature you informed me of is indeed a threat to our kingdom. He has attacked Canterlot. He caused major damage to the Elements of Harmony hall, and managed to steal the Elements themselves. I am sending guards to Ponyville. I gave them orders to either capture or kill this creature. Please keep everypony indoors until this problem is resolved. _

_Yours truly,_

_~Princess Celestia. _

"He…. attacked….. CANTERLOT?!" Twilight hollered in rage.

"He what?" Spike asked.

"That evil, sick, twisted piece of trash attacked Canterlot and stole the Elements of Harmony." Twilight raged. "Thankfully, Princess Celestia is sending guards to deal with the problem. I know where he stays. When the guards arrive I'll take them there and we'll end this once and for all." Twilight planned.

**OVER THE EVERFREE**

Fluttershy finally started to calm down as Aaron flew across the night sky over the forest. Despite the intense events that just passed, she felt safe with him. She wondered if she really made the right choice by choosing to help him. Part of her said yes because she believed he was good. He did save her twice after all. The other part of her said no because not only did he sneak into the castle, but he blew up a hallway, stole the Elements, and assaulted guards. She wasn't completely sure yet.

"Alright, you can go back to your home if you like. I'll see what I can do with these Elements." Aaron said as he brought the bike down and parked it outside the cave entrance.

"Alright, I will ask around and see how everypony in Ponyville are. Maybe they've calmed down." Fluttershy suggested.

"I doubt that. Word has probably already spread around of our little crusade in the castle. Just go back, take care of your animals, and lay low until tomorrow." Aaron said. Fluttershy nodded and turned to leave. Before she could, Aaron grabbed her.

"Thanks for trusting me. I promise I'll get this mess straightened out after I get my guys out of the tubes." He said as he hugged her for a brief moment. He set her down and walked into the darkness of the cave.

Fluttershy sat there stunned for a minute before she snapped out of it.

"I think I made the right choice after all." She said to herself as she flew home.

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**HOOAH FOR CHAPTER THREE. SPECIAL THANKS TO TyTyTech FOR THE FIRST FUCKING REVIEW!**

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_**Quote of the Day: "Just because you're a lazy sack of shit doesn't mean you can take up the entire couch. Move your fat ass over." – Me to Stan. (He's not fat at all lol)**_


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